Setting Up Your Business - The Essentials

Written By Lucas Stefanski

Last updated About 2 months ago

Goal: Get your booking page live in 10 minutes.

You'll configure the basics to accept your first client. Everything can be customized more later - let's just get you booking-ready.

1. Your Business Basics (2 min)

Why: This info appears on invoices & your booking page.

What to do:

  1. Go to Settings → Organization → General

  2. Enter:

    • Business name (how you want it to appear to clients)

    • Phone number (appears on invoices & booking page)

    • Business address (appears on invoices & booking page)

    • Currency (dictates formatting for prices, phone numbers, and addresses)

    • Tax rate (your local sales tax percentage, or 0 if none)

Note: Your timezone auto-updates based on your location.

✅ Done when: Business details saved

2. Your Services & Pricing (3 min)

Why: These are what clients book and what you get paid for.

What you have:

  • Demo services based on your onboarding selections

  • Industry-standard pricing already set

  • Two service types:

    • Appointment-based (dog walks, visits) - scheduled by time

    • Stay-based (boarding, sitting, daycare) - scheduled by dates

What to do:

  1. Go to Services

  2. Review each service and update prices to match your rates

  3. Optional: Add one new service:

    • Click "Add Service"

    • Choose type (appointment or stay)

    • Add name and pricing variants

    • Save

💡 Tip: Start with 2-3 core services. You can add more anytime.

✅ Done when: Prices match what you actually charge

Want to dive deeper? Advanced: Services & Pricing Guide

3. When You're Available (3 min)

Why: Controls when clients can book you - prevents double-booking and overload.

For Appointment Services (walks, visits):

Create schedule blocks - time windows when you work:

  1. Go to Settings → Availability

  2. Click Add Schedule Block

  3. Create at least 1-2 blocks:

    • Example 1: "Morning" - Mon-Fri, 7am-10am, limit 5 bookings

    • Example 2: "Evening" - Mon-Fri, 4pm-7pm, limit 5 bookings

  4. Link your services to these blocks

For Stay Services (boarding, sitting, daycare):

Set arrival/departure windows:

  1. Find your stay service in availability settings

  2. Set windows:

    • Boarding/Overnight: Arrival 4pm-8pm, Departure 7am-10am

    • Daycare: Arrival 7am-9am, Departure 4pm-6pm

  3. Set booking limit (how many you can handle at once):

    • Solo sitter: 1

    • Facility: Your actual capacity

💡 Tip: Start with conservative limits (5 appointments per block, or 1 for overnight sits). You can increase later.

✅ Done when: At least one schedule block created OR arrival/departure windows set

Want to dive deeper? Advanced: Availability & Scheduling Guide

4. Your Booking Page (2 min)

Why: This is your online storefront where clients discover and book you.

Your URL: app.scritches.io/book/[your-address]

What to do:

  1. Go to Settings → Organization → Online Booking Settings

  2. Quick customization:

    • Upload logo (even a temporary one - phone photo works!)

    • Add 1-2 cover photos (show yourself with pets, your facility, or happy clients)

    • Write "About Us" (2-3 sentences about you and your experience)

    • Booking mode: Choose "Request" (you approve each booking) or "Instant" (auto-confirmed)

      💡 Tip: Start with Request mode until you're comfortable. Switch to Instant later.

  3. Test it: Open your booking page URL and see what clients see!

✅ Done when: Logo uploaded, at least one photo added, about us section written

Want to dive deeper? Advanced: Booking Page Customization

5. Client Intake & Agreements (1 min)

Why: You need pet info (vet, medications, special needs) before caring for someone's pet. Agreements protect your business.

Good news: We already created defaults for you!

What to do:

  1. Still in Portal Settings

  2. Toggle ON: "Require intake form for new clients"

  3. Toggle ON: "Require agreement"

That's it! The default intake form and agreement cover 90% of pet care businesses.

💡 Tip: You can customize these later, but the defaults work great to start.

✅ Done when: Both toggles enabled

More info:

6. Payment Methods (2 min)

Why: How you get paid for your services.

Options:

  • Stripe - Accept credit cards online (clients click "Pay Now")

  • Venmo, Zelle, PayPal - Popular P2P methods

  • Cash, Check, Bank Transfer - Traditional methods

What to do:

  1. Go to Settings → Payments

  2. At minimum: Add one non-card method:

    • Enable Venmo → add your username

    • Enable Zelle → add your email

    • Enable Cash or Check

  3. Recommended: Set up Stripe for online card payments:

    • Click "Connect Stripe"

    • Complete Stripe onboarding (5 minutes)

    • Accept credit cards instantly

💡 Tip: The more payment options, the faster clients pay. At minimum, have Stripe + one backup method.

✅ Done when: At least one payment method added

Want to dive deeper? Advanced: Payment Methods & Stripe Setup

🎉 You're Ready for Clients!

What you've accomplished:

  • ✅ Business details configured

  • ✅ Services priced correctly

  • ✅ Availability set (clients can see when to book)

  • ✅ Booking page customized and live

  • ✅ Intake form ready to collect pet info

  • ✅ Agreement protecting your business

  • ✅ Payment method ready

Your booking page is LIVE: app.scritches.io/book/[your-address]

Test It Yourself

Before sharing with real clients:

  1. Visit your booking page in a new browser tab

  2. Try booking yourself (use a different email)

  3. Go through the full flow:

    • Select a service

    • Pick a date/time

    • Fill out the intake form

    • Accept the agreement

    • Complete the booking

  4. See what clients see at every step

This helps you spot any issues and understand the client experience.

Next Step: Make Your First Booking

Now that you're set up, let's learn how bookings work - both when clients book online and when you create them manually.

→ Making a Booking - Online & Manual

What you'll learn:

  • The client booking journey

  • Creating manual bookings

  • Managing your calendar

  • Booking status and workflows

Time: 2 minutes
Value: Keep your schedule organized and prevent double-booking

Questions? Email support@scritches.io - we're here to help!